What do American women in Florida, Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, and other states have in common with Roma children in villages with names as exotic as Zitni Potok, Jasenica, Mladenovac, and Selenca have in common? Hats! Knitted hats, crocheted hats, warm and wooly hats that were knitted with love and prayers by the American women for the Roma children. Happy hearts, separated by many miles, but all sharing in God’s love.
These children, and many others . . .
Will receive these hats, and many others:
From these Linking Partners pastors and leaders, and many others:
But we’ve done so much more than hats! We are staying in a new place for us in Serbia. Kopaonic Mountain is the most beautiful, and most popular skiing area in all of Serbia. It is not yet ski season, in fact we are watching the leaves turn beautiful fall colors, more each day. Many days our cozy cabin is cloaked in clouds, wrapping the area in a soft, foggy blanket. Our lovely hosts, Aleksandar and Milica, at the Hostel Montana, prepare Serbian meals for us, in between our meetings. In the process, they’re hearing quite a bit about the gospel and our mission work with the Roma in Serbia.
This morning we talked about ways Linking Partners can come alongside our partners in Serbia as they work to build leaders (who will develop leaders, who will develop leaders . . . ) in the Roma community and plant home churches in Roma communities and villages where there are no churches. Some of the things they felt would help were more opportunities for those in Serbia to gather together to plan and coordinate their work, youth camp where all three regions could send prospective leaders for concentrated teaching as well as fellowship, more resource material in the Serbian language – especially as they work together to coordinate their teaching plans to focus on the same material country-wide, so that we make the most of our development dollars. There is also a great need for graphics to go along with the lessons they teach – such as the Multiply materials we have already translated into Serbian. Simple pictures that could be printed or loaded onto a tablet, or projected as a powerpoint, help the Roma remember the lessons. There is also a need for Serbian Bibles for the members of the new home churches. So many of them are beginning in villages and communities where there is no evangelical work, and people simply don’t have a Bible.
Would you like to help? Donate HERE.
